


Cocoa and Kisses

by doctormchotson



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Kilgharrah as a cat, M/M, grad student merlin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-30
Updated: 2014-03-30
Packaged: 2018-01-17 12:46:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1388182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctormchotson/pseuds/doctormchotson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fluffy little one shot wherein Merlin is a grad student pursuing his Master's in history.</p><p>For Mel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cocoa and Kisses

Arthur stood leaned against the doorway into Merlin’s sitting room and watched as Merlin, sat at his dining room table which now doubled as a desk, muttered to himself and rifled through the stacks of books in front of him.

They’d been together for 4 months now, since Arthur had finally gotten his head out of his arse and kissed those full gorgeous lips in the middle of a busy London street. Those months had been positively blissful, happier than Arthur ever imagined they could be, and Arthur often found himself grinning stupidly at how unbelievably lucky he’d become. If sometimes those moments of gleeful reflection happened in the middle of very important board meetings, well, he really couldn’t be arsed to care.

Arthur had come home (and wasn’t that a scary thought, Merlin’s place already labeled as “home” in his mind) to the familiar sight of Merlin deeply entrenched in his Master’s thesis. Being a businessman, more inclined to accounting than history, he found the scrawled names and dates and bizarre ancient languages to be more than a bit daunting. So, he showed his support in other ways; endless supplies of hot cocoa, biscuits, and the occasional kiss dropped on that ridiculous hair. But, as this was going on the third straight day of nonstop work for the grad student, Arthur, clad in loose fitting pajamas, decided it was far past time for a break.

He padded softly up to the table/desk and wrapped his arms around Merlin’s shoulders. The other man turned a bit in his arms, gave a dimmed version of his usually blinding smile, and gently wrapped his left hand around Arthur’s forearm. When Merlin turned back around, reaching out for yet another dusty book, Arthur rested his lips in Merlin’s hair and gave a squeeze to his shoulders.

"Alright then, time for bed," he murmured into Merlin’s hair.

"Hmmm?" was the only response he got, followed by an inquisitive sound at whatever he’d just read.

Arthur sighed.

"C’mon, love, you’ve been at it for days, get some rest," he unwound one arm from Merlin’s shoulders, reached for the book in Merlin’s hand and made to gently close it. Merlin squeaked and fluttered his hands over the book, turning to snap at Arthur in some language that was definitely not English and quite probably dead. Arthur blinked at the exhausted glare on Merlin’s face and straightened up, snapping the book closed (with a slip of paper marking the page it was opened to, of course).

"Right, that settles it, time for bed." Arthur gently grasped Merlin’s hand, to which he gave another sound of protest, gestured to the unholy mess on the table, and gave an impassioned speech in not-English.

"No, Merlin, you’re speaking to me in Latin, time for bed,” Arthur replied firmly, dragging the other man to standing. Merlin blinked, confused for a moment, and then smiled sheepishly and scratched his head.

"Oh, uh, sorry about that."

Arthur sighed, smiled, and admitted quite reluctantly, “Don’t be. You’re adorable when you do that,” Merlin grinned at that and Arthur rushed to cover any and all sounds possibly resembling “awwwwww” that were about to come out of his boyfriend’s mouth. “You’re working hard, I understand that,” Arthur rubbed his hands on Merlin’s upper arms, “You just need to rest or you’ll end up rewriting everything in the morning. Alright?”

Merlin nodded and seemed to wilt a bit before Arthur’s eyes, the exhaustion hitting him all at once. He slumped forward, resting his face on Arthur’s strong shoulder. The blond pressed a kiss to Merlin’s temple and threaded his fingers through his hair. When Merlin wrapped his arms in a loose circle around his waist, Arthur began slowly walking them backwards toward the bedroom.

After a few close calls (one notably including tripping over a soundly sleeping and very irate Kilgharrah, sending the cat off in a huff and shooting glares at Arthur so potent he thought the cat would breath fire at him any minute) they finally made it into the bedroom. Arthur gently deposited his boyfriend onto the mattress where he immediately flopped over sideways, snuggling into the sheets.

With a fond smile and efficient movements Arthur divested him of his clothes, leaving him in his pants and t-shirt, before scootching him up to rest properly on the pillow. When he slid into the bed and tossed the covers over them both, Merlin rolled over and wrapped himself around Arthur. With a fond smile, Arthur kissed Merlin softly on the lips, mouth closed, intending to comfort rather than seduce. Merlin hummed happily into the kiss, and gave a faint lick to Arthur’s top lip in a silly sort of thank you, before his mouth went slack with sleep.

Arthur pulled back and simply looked at Merlin, face soft in his already deep slumber. He turned, careful not to dislodge Merlin’s arms around him, and flicked off the light on the bedside table before curling back into the warmth of Merlin’s embrace. He slipped into sleep with a smile of amazement on his face, thanking whatever brand of luck or destiny brought this gorgeous, brilliant, incredible man into his life.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, comments, critiques, etc. are loved and cherished and snuggled.


End file.
